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We’re one week away from beginning our unveiling of the top 80 club teams at the 16U age division.
Click HERE to see the schedule.
Today we head to the Midwest to spotlight a team to watch, John LaMar’s Indiana Magic Gold 16U squad, which is new to the organization and is a first-year 16U. It won’t be easy stepping into a strong age division with some experienced second-year powerhouses, but Lamar–who has been coaching travel softball for 10 years–feels he has the talent to turn some heads and wins some big games.
The coach has a strong baseball background, earning 2nd Team All-American honors at Indiana State University in 1992 when he was 7th in DI in batting average (.442). He was a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection and was also invited to the 1992 Olympic Trials before being drafted by the Detroit Tigers. Lamar also playing in the Cincinnati Reds organization before he had to retire after three years in the minors due to a knee injury.
Here’s a closer look at his team which already has one player headed to the Big Ten and will make our Extra Elite Eighty 16U Club Rankings…
*****
2018 TEAM RECORD:
44-13-4 (Fall: 21-6-3; Summer: 23-7-1)
2018 TOP RESULTS (14U):
- D9 (Fall): 5-1
- Bolts 5-Star Fall Showcase: 4-2
- Scenic City Summer: 6-2 (Top 8 finish in Power Pool)
- PGF Qualifier: 6-0 (PGF Premier bid winner)
- Boulder IDT: 5-3-1 (Top 8)
- USA Elite World Fastpitch Championship: 5-2 (Top 12)
2018 RECAP:
“We had a very competitive year in 14U. This was our first year to the Indiana Magic Gold organization–we were Indiana Prospects 03 previously–and this was our first year on the ‘National Stage.’ We competed extremely well and in our losses against some of the best teams in the country, all our games were very close. We only had one loss that we were not in the game or leading. Last year, we chose not to go to the PGF Nationals due to school starting so early in Indiana (July 25, 2018) and we feel that the girls are students first. The school start dates move back this year so we will be going to PGF Nationals. We have improved our team moving to 16U with several key contributions.”
“Last year, fall and summer, we had some signature wins against top competition including Beverly Bandits – Conroy, Ohio Outlaws Premier – Lucas, Nebraska Gold, Lady Gators (Florida), Iowa Premier Gold, Jersey Intensity, Sarasota Heat, Midwest Speed, Florida Impact Gold, Atlanta Vipers Trowell, Indiana Magic Gold Bay, Team Seattle Softball Club, Illinois Chill Gold, Ohana Tigers – Lastrapes, San Jose Sting, Irvine Sting, Tulsa Elite, Marucci Patriots, Texas Glory and the Carolina Cardinals.” — Coach Lamar
2019 PREVIEW:
“We have an extremely talented group of players from the 2021 and 2022 classes. Several girls had offers/visits before the new recruiting rules went into place and most are drawing high levels of interests from the Power 5 and Mid-Major Conferences. We are extremely deep in pitching, speed and defense. We have a team full of D1 players that can compete with any 16U team in the country.”
“We had a team batting average of .320 and an on-base percentage of .400. Our Fall showcase schedule losses resulted from rotating players and batting 14 players, but our team playing our best nine could match up with anyone in the country.
Pitching is the backbone of our team. Our team ERA is 3.00 with 191 strikeouts in 156 innings pitched. We are led by three hard throwing pitchers and a spin pitcher.”
“Speed and athleticism are common among this group. We have nine girls that run under three seconds from home to first base with five girls who are under 2.8 seconds. We had 42 stolen bases in 30 games this Fall.”
“Team defense is also a huge part to this team–we rarely make a mistake on defense–and we are especially talented up the middle and have an elite pitching staff, strong catching and athletic middle infielders and outfielders.”
“We have been awarded a PGF Platinum bid and are playing in two PGF qualifiers to earn a Premier bid.”— Coach Lamar
2019 SUMMER SCHEDULE:
- Scenic City Summer Showcase (Chattanooga, TN) June 6-9
- PGF Qualifier (Peoria, Illinois) June 14-16
- PGF Qualifier (Crown Point, Indiana) June 21-23
- Colorado Sparkler/Fireworks (Denver, Colorado) June 30- July 7
- PGF Nationals (Huntington Beach, California) July 20-27